British Passions on Film

As a nation, the British have long been renowned for the creativity and enthusiasm they bring to their leisure pursuits. Whether by collecting cheese labels, painting characters on eggshells or finding unusual uses for sticky back plastic, Britons have always demonstrated enormous passion - and often, deep eccentricity - when pursuing the serious business of having fun. The first episode features enthusiasts of some of Britain's best-loved games, hobbies and leisure activities - and pays tribute to those with more offbeat preoccupations, including D-I-Y obsessives and those with a penchant for collecting street furniture.

During the course of the 20th Century, millions of British workers benefited from the expansion of paid leave and an increase in leisure time. This enabled many Britons to realize a cherished dream: at last, they could escape from their everyday lives, and go on holiday. Getting Away from it All traces the evolution of the British holiday, from hugely popular day-trips and annual fortnights in holiday camps to the mass market package holiday to the Costas - and shows how Britons have never been more at home when they've been far away from home, having fun in the sun.

Throughout the 20th century, archive films and newsreel footage has chronicled Britain's enduring fascination with the nation's most important modes of mass passenger transport. This film shows how Britons responded to advances in transport technologies and the emergence of new automobiles, rail services and aircraft designs - each of which held out the possibility of travel to new, exciting and previously inaccessible destinations. Featuring contributions from the cultural critic Jonathan Glancey and the transport historian Christian Wolmar, it celebrates the contribution that these different forms of transport made to the collective imagination of the nation, and shows how such developments as jet aircraft and the Channel tunnel opened up new horizons for successive generations of British people.